CORNER BROOK — The Department of Transportation and Works are closely monitoring areas of concern with respect to flooding throughout western Newfoundland.

With another rain warning issued for the region Tuesday, Minister Nick McGrath said the areas which flooded or were damaged this past weekend are of particular worry.

Highway infrastructure along the south shore of the Bay of Islands eroded with the rainfall and washouts this past weekend. In McIvers on the north shore, a blockage under a bridge caused water and ice from a river to wash over the road and parking lot of the community hall and local fire station. Traffic was held up there for more than an hour as equipment cleared the blockage.

There was also flooding and erosion issues along the Port au Port Peninsula. The highway in the Noel’s Pond area was closed again as water built up from the pond. Department crews repaired a shoulder that eroded and flooded the road. Traffic was re-routed through Stephenville Crossing, which has become commonplace in recent years during heavy rainfall in this area.

McGrath said the Lewin Parkway in Corner Brook is another area which experienced damage this past weekend.

“We are monitoring it very closely,” he said Tuesday morning. “We realize the damage is there. This time of year, the materials needed to do the repairs on the shoulders and stuff are frozen. We have to dig into that now and, as soon as the weather permits, we will have crews out there.”

Caution signs have been put in place in the meantime.

The minister says climate change continues to pose significant challenges on infrastructure throughout the province. He said his staff is working with the Department of Environment and federal government officials to monitor, and ultimately deal with, that.

As infrastructure is replaced or repaired, McGrath said, it is done to adapt to the changes in weather and damage that have been occurring.

“We have experts in the departments who know what is happening,” he said. “Through the climate changes, they realize infrastructure also has to change.

“I feel we have things in control. We have a great staff, in the government employees, and they are keeping ahead of things.”

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mememine69

January 17, 2014 - 14:40

No it's not!
Find us one IPCC warning that says; "will be a crisis" or "is inevitable" or "eventual" like they love to say comet hits are. Their comet hits are real but their own 31 year old CO2 comet hit of a climate crisis emergency isn't as real as a real comet hit is?
YOU cannot decide certainty, only science can. It's still a 31 year old consensus of "maybe" or in other words; a consensus of nothing.
Science has NEVER agreed beyond; "could be". Prove me wrong.
Get up to date news editors;
*Occupywallstreet now does not even mention CO2 in its list of demands because of the bank-funded and corporate run carbon trading stock markets ruled by politicians.
*Canada killed Y2Kyoto with a freely elected climate change denying prime minister and nobody cared, especially the millions of scientists warning us of unstoppable warming (a comet hit).
*Julian Assange is of course a climate change denier.
*Obama had not mentioned the crisis in two State of the Unions addresses.
At the grunt of a consensus headline you condemn your own kids never even bothering to see what it was you were agreeing on in all your eagerness to “believe”.

What’s to “believe” in when in their eagerness to “believe” in climate change these faithful climate change “believers” choose to ignore science’s 31 year old consensus of “maybe” and never “will be”. So these humanity haters lie to their own children about science having a consensus of “belief” and make up their own doomsday consensus of climate blame "belief". These are planet lovers? What will history call 31 years of needless panic to billions of helpless children?
Get up to date news editors;
*Occupywallstreet now does not even mention CO2 in its list of demands because of the bank-funded and corporate run carbon trading stock markets ruled by politicians.
*Canada killed Y2Kyoto with a freely elected climate change denying prime minister and nobody cared, especially the millions of scientists warning us of unstoppable warming (a comet hit).
*Julian Assange is of course a climate change denier.
*Obama had not mentioned the crisis in two State of the Unions addresses.

I don't understand why people are worried about this thing called "CLIMATE CHANGE". If you believe the Bible and read it, there is no such thing. It is only a "MONEY MAKING SGHEME".
Genesis 8:22
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”

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